Electronic devices such as MP3 players and cellular telephones are becoming increasingly small and portable. The demand for increased portability and convenience drives a major trend in the consumer electronics marketplace toward wearable electronic devices that can be attached to garments. These “wearable electronic devices” require electrical connection both with other devices (i.e., headphones connected to an MP3 player) as well as with circuits that form part of a garment itself (i.e., conductive fibers, etc.). Wearable electronic devices also require mechanically strong connections because the electronic devices need to stay attached to a wearer's garment as the wearer moves (i.e., a portable MP3 player attached to a jogger's shorts). Further, wearable electronic devices also demand a level of fashion not generally associated with conventional electronic devices.
Currently, there are a number of electrical connectors, similar to those used in mobile telephone chargers, which provide electrical connectivity and some amount of mechanical strength. However, these devices lack the requisite mechanical strength, design, and user interface required by the fashion/garment industry.
Further, within the fashion/garment industry, there are many varieties of quick-release buckles which allow for the mechanical connection of two or more items. An example of such quick-release buckles is a rucksack with straps that have buckle elements attached. When the buckle elements are connected they form a friction coupling and can be decoupled with relative ease, usually by depressing a portion of one of the buckle elements such that it slides through an opening in its counterpart. However, these buckles currently do not have the capacity for forming electrical connections.